5 Pillars of Islam - What are the Five Pillars?

The five pillars of Islam (Shahada, Salah, Sawm, Zakat and Hajj) are five key practices that a Muslim is obligated to fulfil throughout their lifetime. FivePillarsofIslam WhatarethefivepillarsofIslam? ThemostimportantIslamicpracticesaretheFivePillarsofIslam.ThefivepillarsofIslamareShahada,Salah,Zakat,Sawm,andHajj.   Shahada(Faith) ThedeclarationoffaithinoneGod(Allah)andHismessenger(peacebeuponhim). Salah(Prayer) TheritualprayerrequiredofeveryMuslimfivetimesadaythroughouttheirlifetime. Zakat(Almsgiving) TheactofgivingaportionofaMuslim’swealthtothoseinneedthroughouttheirlifetime. Sawm(Fasting) TheactoffastingduringtheholymonthofRamadan. Hajj(Pilgrimage) ThesacredpilgrimagetoMeccarequiredofeveryMuslimatleastonceintheirlifetimeifitiswithintheirmeans.   Whatdothe5pillarsofIslammean? TherearefivekeypracticesthatallMuslimsareobligatedtofulfilthroughouttheirlifetime.ThesepracticesarereferredtoaspillarsbecausetheyformthefoundationofMuslimlife.ThefivepillarsofIslamareShahada,Salah,Zakat,Sawm,andHajj.   WhyarethefivepillarsofIslamimportant? EachofthefivepillarsworkintandemwithoneanothertobringtheessenceofIslamasareligionofpeaceandsubmissiontoAllahSWT,intothelifestyleofeveryMuslim: MonotheismandthebeliefinProphetMuhammad(peacebeuponhim)asthelastmessengerofGodisthecentraltenetofIslamaroundwhicheverythingelserevolves,andrecitingtheShahada (shahadah)inprayereachdayservestoremindMuslimsofthisintegralbelief. Salah(salat)occursfivetimesaday,andoffersfivedifferentopportunitiesforremembranceofAllahSWTandourpurposeinthislifetoworshipHim. ThemonthofRamadanrequireseveryMuslimtoabstainfromtheirmostbasicneedsanddesires,likefood,drinkandsexualrelationsforaperiodoftimeeachday.Everyyear,theSawmgivesMuslimstheopportunitytogathercontrolovertheirhumanneeds.Withoutthesedistractions,MuslimscaninsteadnurturegoodconductandtheirconnectiontoAllahSWT. WhileSadaqah(charity)isgreatlyencouragedtobeapartofeverydayMuslimlife,itisobligatorytoofferZakat(alms)onceayear,ensuringthatwealthiscontinuouslyredistributedtothosewhoareinneedofit. DuringtheHajj(pilgrimage),MuslimsmusteachwearthesamesimplegarmentsandperformthesameritualactsofdevotiontoAllah.Strippedofworldlydistinction,peopleareremindedthatallareequalbeforeGod.   FactsaboutthefivepillarsofIslam AMuslimmustcommittoeachpillarandwhatitentailsthroughouttheirlives. Eachpillaralsoaccountsforthosewhomaybeunabletofulfiloneormoreofthem,forexampleduetoillhealth,menstruationorpregnancyandalackoffinancialmeans,amongstothers. Weensureourcontentisreviewedandverifiedby qualifiedscholars toprovideyouwiththemostaccurateinformation.Thiswebpagewaslastreviewedby SheikhSaalimAl-Azhari. Pagelastreviewed:26October2021 Nextreviewdue:Within12months FivepillarsofIslam Shahada(Faith) Salah(Prayer) Zakat(Almsgiving) Sawm(Fasting) Hajj(Pilgrimage) ZakatResources ZakatCalculator WhentopayZakat? NisabValue Hawl ZakatonGold WhyisZakatImportant? ThePowerofZakat WhoisEligibleforZakat? OurZakatAdvisoryBoard HowIslamicReliefSpendZakat ZakatFacts ZakatandPensions PayZakatulFitr(Fitrana) ©Copyright2022IslamicReliefWorldwide,Inc.Allrightsreserved.RegisteredCharityNo.328158 QuickDonate One-OffDonation MonthlyDonation SelectaFund Thiswebsiteusescookiestoimproveyourexperience.We'llassumeyou'reokwiththis,butyoucanopt-outifyouwish.CookieSettingsACCEPTPrivacy&CookiesPolicy Close PrivacyOverview Thiswebsiteusescookiestoimproveyourexperiencewhileyounavigatethroughthewebsite.Outofthesecookies,thecookiesthatarecategorizedasnecessaryarestoredonyourbrowserastheyareessentialfortheworkingofbasicfunctionalitiesofthewebsite.Wealsousethird-partycookiesthathelpusanalyzeandunderstandhowyouusethiswebsite.Thesecookieswillbestoredinyourbrowseronlywithyourconsent.Youalsohavetheoptiontoopt-outofthesecookies.Butoptingoutofsomeofthesecookiesmayhaveaneffectonyourbrowsingexperience. Necessary Necessary AlwaysEnabled Necessarycookiesareabsolutelyessentialforthewebsitetofunctionproperly.Thiscategoryonlyincludescookiesthatensuresbasicfunctionalitiesandsecurityfeaturesofthewebsite.Thesecookiesdonotstoreanypersonalinformation. Non-necessary Non-necessary Anycookiesthatmaynotbeparticularlynecessaryforthewebsitetofunctionandisusedspecificallytocollectuserpersonaldataviaanalytics,ads,otherembeddedcontentsaretermedasnon-necessarycookies.Itismandatorytoprocureuserconsentpriortorunningthesecookiesonyourwebsite. SAVE&ACCEPT